Lovers have been sending Valentines for centuries, so collectors of Valentine ephemera have an almost overwhelming variety from which to choose.  America began its love affair with sending Valentine's Day cards in the 1850's, when Esther Howland began mass producing valentines.  Other companies, such as George Whitney, Turner & Fisher, Louis Prang, and of course, Hallmark created popular cards.  From Victorian fold outs to penny dreadful postcards, variety in type and cost the name of the game in Valentine collecting.

Esther Howland: Mother of the American Valentine

Esther A. Howland was the daughter of a prosperous book and stationary store owner in Worcester, Massachusetts, and a graduate of Mt. Holyoke Female Seminary. She began producing valentines in 1847 or so, after having received one from an admirer in England.  Her company, The New England Valentine Company, was the first American company to mass produce valentine cards.  Howland had the first assembly line production of hand assembled cards with imported lace papers and floral decorations.  Her all-female assembly line produced cards for all budgets, starting at five cents.  Her cards were stamped with a small red "H" in the corner of the back page, or with a white heart (with a stamped "H")or label glued to the back.  Upon retirement in 1881, she sold the business to the George C. Whitney Company.  Howland cards are usually found in museum collections.

The George Whitney Company

Whitney was Howland's biggest competitor, and when she sold him her company, he became the biggest manufacturer of mass produced valentines in the US, a position his company held for many years.  The George Whitney Company was in business from 1866 to 1942.  Whitney cards are plentiful on eBay. Cards from the 20^th century sell for a few dollars, if that, but 19^th century examples can be worth $10 or more.

Fold Out & Stand Up Cards

Foldout and stand up cards hit the market in 1895, and were popular till about 1915.  Originally made in Germany, these heavily embossed and lithographed cards had crepe paper honey comb inserts, or stood up on special stands.  The most elaborate of these cards include ribbons, swags, lace, and birds with fluttering wings. Stand up and fold out  cards are popular with collectors, but very fragile because of their moving parts. These cards can be found for prices ranging from $10-30 depending upon complexity and condition.

Valentine Postcards & Penny Dreadfuls

The introduction of the Valentine postcard made it possible for anyone with a penny in their pocket to profess their love long distance.  The earliest cards were beautifully printed sentimental odes featuring birds, flowers, angel, lovely women, beautiful children, and handsome couples.  A New York printed soon came out with a line of badly printed, poorly colored cards that made fun of schoolteachers, old maids, and the otherwise then, unattractive. Sad to say, these cards were immensely popular until they became so offensive and racy that the US Postal Service refused to deliver them.

Fans

Both practical and aesthetic, ladies' fans were a means of communication as well as a fashion accessory.  The silent language of fans was used to communicate romantic thoughts in public, as movements by a lady would convey specific feelings to a certain gentleman.  If a woman dropped her fan, it was a signal that she was interested in the man who would pick it up.  Rapid fanning indicated great interest, but if she rested it on her lips, she was indicating lack of trust. 

Fans were popular Valentine's Day gifts, and could be luxurious or inexpensive, and made of silk, satin, or feathers, and decorated with embroidery, sequins, or hand painted scenes. The ribs (or sticks) could be sandalwood, teak, bone or ivory, intricately carved or plain.  For collectors, the value of a fan lies in its aesthetics as well as the worth of its materials, and of course, its condition.  Values for vintage wood and paper or wood and fabric fans depend on the quality of the illustration with hand painted ones bringing higher prices, but the post 1940s versions don't seem to bring more than $5-7.  Hand painted fans on silk with carved exotic wood sticks and guards can bring in the $50-100 range, and ivory, mother of pearl and jeweled examples can go for hundreds.

Victorian Fan Cards

Victorian lovers exchanged fan cards, which were valentines of heavily embossed cardstock, intricately die-cut with a variety of romantic or sentimental chromolithographed illustrations  on each blade.  One of these, with illustrations either by or in the style of Maude Humphrey, complete with its original silk cord & tassel, recently sold for $224.00.

It wasn't until a 1907 collaboration between Rene Lalique and Francoise Coty that perfume came in the beautifully designed and crafted glass bottles that collectors love. Before then, women purchased their scents in plain packaging that was then transferred to more attractive cut-glass decanters for use and display on the dressing table, or a smaller yet no less beautiful scent bottle for use away from the home.

The earliest perfume bottles created by master glassmakers were for the designer fragrances sold by Paris couturiers, but soon the manufacturers of less expensive fragrances realized the power of packaging and its effect on sales. 

Glass makers Baccarat and Lalique designed and manufactured elegant bottles both to be sold empty their own showrooms and for individual perfumer as well.  Lalique's son Marc created one of the most collectible perfume bottles-the L"Air du Temps bottle with the frosted doves stopper for Nina Ricci.  The 1960s and 1970s versions of these bottles can bring $200-300 or more.

Perfume bottle collectors seek out examples in their original packaging including intact paper labels, unopened bottles, and original boxes.  While unopened bottles are eagerly sought after, opened bottles with partially used contents are valued no higher than empty ones, in fact, the purchaser of a half full perfume for his or her collection will probably empty out the bottle before putting it on display.

Values for perfume bottles are anywhere from $20 for a simple, more recent example to a few thousand for early examples of Baccarat or Lalique, especially Lalique in unusual colors.